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All IIHIIIII/ H. s. OONOVER.

Register forUounting Votes.

No. 228,610. Patented'lune 8,1880.

'N N Q I VENTOR 6M zmm/ BY g RNEYS.

WITNESSIW M UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD S. CONOVER, OF SAYREVILLE, NEV JERSEY.

REGISTER FOR COUNTING VOTES.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 228,610, dated June 8, 1880.

Application filed March 20, 1880.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RICHARD S. GoNovER, of Sayreville, in the county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Apparatus for Receiving and RecordingVotes, of which the following is a specification The object of my invention is to provide a new and improved apparatus for receiving and recording votes, whereby election frauds will be prevented and the number of votes cast will be strictly controlled and quickly counted.

The invention consists in a wheel provided with a series of fingers or spring-clasps on the periphery, between which fingers the separate ballots are placed, the said wheel being mounted on a shaft having a counting apparatus at one end and a ratchet-wheel at the other end, so that if the poll-clerk pulls a lever every time he deposits a vote between the fingers the number of votes will be counted by the counting apparatus, and at the same time the votes will be carried round by the wheel to the poll-clerks on the other side of the same, who take them out of the fingers and record them on the slates provided therefor, the vote for each candidate being recorded by a clerk provided for the purpose by passing the ballot from one to the other, thus enabling the votes to be recorded as rapidly as they can be received.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of my improved apparatus for receiving and recording votes. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig.3 is a front elevation.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts.

A wheel, A, is mounted on a shaft, B,journaled in two standards, 0 0 one of which is provided with a plate, D, containing a number of dials subdivided on the decimal scale.

The wheel A is provided with a series of radial spring fingers or clasps, E, on its periphery, between which spring-fingers the ballots are placed by the poll-clerk receiving them from the voters. The end of the shaftB resting on the standard 0 is provided with a tooth, F, which engages with the teeth ofa spur wheel, Gr, pivoted on the inner side of the standard 0, and with a hand, H,

(No model.)

which indicates the units on the upper dial of the plate D, whereas a hand, I, attached to the end of the pintle of the spur-wheel Gr, indicates the number of revolutions of the wheel A. A ratchet-wheel, J, is mounted on the end of the shaft B, resting on the stamiard U and a pawl, K, pivoted in the end of a lever, L, loosely mounted on the shaft B, engages with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel J and rotates the wheel A the distance of one tooth every time the lever LlS operated by means of a bar, M, connecting it with a lever, N, pivoted next to the desk 0 of the poll clerk. A spring, P, which may be of any desired kind, draws the lever L, to the lower end of which it is fastened, back into its former position again.

A ratchet-wheel, Q, provided with a sprin pawl, is mounted on the shaft B next to the wheel J, but its teeth project in the opposite direction. The object of this additional ratchct-wheel is to prevent the wheel A from being rotated more than the distance of one tooth of the ratchet-wheel J for each pull of the lever N. Any'other suitable check device may be used in place of the ratchet-wheel Q. The counting apparatus is under lock or seal during operation.

The operation is as follows: The apparatus is represented as being erected in a closed apartment, which is preferably made of glass and is protected by heavyiron frames or gratings. ()ne of the walls of the apartment is provided with a circular opening, 1, through which the voter hands his ballot or ticket to the poll-clerk standing at the desk 0. The clerk deposits the ballot between one of the spring-elasps or pair of spring-lingers E, and then pushes the upper end of the lever N in the direction of the arrow a, which causes the upper end of the leverL to move in the direction of the arrow 1) and the wheel A to move the distance of one tooth of the wheel J in the direction of the arrow 0. This movement of the wheel Alias caused a correspondingmove- 5 ts the twenty-sixth ballot; but as soon as e ballots have traveled to the other side of he wheel they are taken out of the clasps by the inspectors of election or other poll-clerks, and their contents are inscribed on transparent slates behind the desks S, (the name of each candidate may be placed over his slate,) and then they are deposited in the ballot-box.

The upper half of the wheel A is preferably covered by a semi-cylindrical box, so that no one can follow the ballots from the time they are deposited until they are recorded.

it is evident that the clerks and inspectors of election can be controlled effectually, as the votes are first counted by the counting apparatus on the plate D by the clerks that receive the ballots from the wheel, and can finally be taken from the ballot-box and counted by the canvassers.

Another great advantage of the within-described apparatus and method of voting is that the votes can be recorded a few minutes after being cast and yet remain secret.

The ballot-boxes cannot be stuffed,for the poll-clerk must receive every vote and place it in a separate spring-clasp, E, in the sight of every one. This whole arrangement is based upon the principle that the people are their own protectors against fraud, and the votes are hereby counted under the eye of all the voters, instead of being intrusted to afew men in a room by themselves.

Until experience and repeated trials may perfect the apparatus, itis not proposed to do away with the present system, but simply to control it by the apparatus.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. An apparatus for receiving and recording votes, constructed, substantially as herein shown and described, with a wheel provided with a series of spring-lingers between which the ballots are deposited, a ratchet, pawl, and lever for rotating the wheel a short distance after depositing each ballot, and an apparatus for counting the number of ballots, as set forth.

2. In an apparatus for receiving and recording votes, the wheel A, constructed, substantially as herein shown and described, with a series of springtingers, E E, for the purpose of receiving the ballots between them and delivering them at the other side of the room, as set forth.

3. In an apparatus for receiving and recording votes, the combination, with the shaft B, of the wheel A, provided with spring-fingers E, and of the ratchet-wheel J, the pawl K, lever L, and a device for operating the latter, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

4. The method, substantially as herein shown and described, of receiving and recording votes, consisting in depositing the ballots between the spring-fingers of a wheel, A, which wheel carries them to the other side of the room, where they are opened and recorded, the votes being counted by an apparatus operated by the revolution of the shaft B, whereby the re sult of the election is made known a short time after the polling has stopped, and yet all the votes are secret, as set forth.

RIOHD. S. GONOVER.

Witnesses:

Oscar: F. Gem, 0. SEDewIcK. 

